I would like to thanks a certain Ashley, for her private messaging that made my day, and a certain Ankou friend of mine, because she's always there for me as author and e-friend. It's really cool to have someone older for advice and gaining confidence... things like that. So, for everyone: I hope you may enjoy this new chapter. Writing with love. See you...
Chapter 3: One giving one's best.
When great minds think alike
After being in a few shared detention for trouble making and saying a bunch of lies, Hermione and Megan ended up thinking that despite a few disagreement, they were quite alike and wanted exactly the same thing. So that how everything started:
In this outstanding duo, Hermione provided for any magic and knowledge they needed and Megan offered her charismatic skill to convince people to join them. So that how they ended up at hogshead, for the first session of the 'Training Against Dark Wizard And Creature Underground Club' or TADWACUC, for short: Megan choice.
But it happens that most of the people reunited there just came for hearing, again, the circumstances of Harry's death, not something Hermione was eager to disclose at that time. Holly would have liked to hear Hermione version of that story because she never heard anything but what Dumbledore and Snape had done to settle the tale. But it was neither the time nor the place for discussing that matter.
So Hermione asked who are at least interested in training and suggested them to step back at the far end of Hogshead while she spoke to the other. Then she made them go away and started explaining things to those who remained:
"We are reunited here because we need to train in order to face whatever is waiting for us in the real world and survive.
I, myself, with my late friend Harry had survived in many occasion at some threat that never had occurred to your mind, especially into Hogwarts.
I speak about possessed teacher, giant and a deadly dangerous snake that happen to be Basilisk, evil creature that sucked your soul out of your mouth known as Dementor. We also survived in the oh so well named Forbidden Forrest at the full moon while a werewolf was also there. Harry survived the Triwizard Tournament being underage just to be murder a few minute after. Finally, here, Ronald Weasley, happened to survive with Harry, also in the Forbidden Forrest with giant spiders wanting to eat them.
I tell you all that because I have one point you need to understand clearly : in the real world, you never know how, when, where, the danger is waiting for you. You need to be prepared because there is no second chance. You deal with the threat quickly or you die, plain and simple.
There is no manual or theory about how to survive an imminent and deadly danger so the only thing I could propose you is to train, train and train again. So when a threat appears, you quickly deal with it without a second thought and if possible, without endangering your own life. That's what I planning to do, with Megan, and any other volunteers who are okay to go with it.
This will be dangerous in itself because we are not allowed to do so. Fooling Umbridge each time we are going to see each other will be a great part of this training. So I need you to think about every way possible we have to do so. There is no stupid idea but we absolutely need to outsmart everyone or we are done.
Is there anyone wanting to talk or having a question?"
Then almost everyone asked some question and some were proposing a solution for what was needed: a whereabouts, a secret means to communicate, etcetera.
That was how everything started. But everything was still going on.
An interview with the Headmaster
"Heather! It's nice to see you. Do you want a sugar quill? It's my current new favourite candy" Dumbledore offered as the girl entered his office and took a seat.
"No, thank you." Heather replied, "I have no room left for sweets. "
"Surprisingly, Hufflepuff leads me to eat so much more that I was used to. Or maybe is that I don't playact as much as I was used to and that I can be off-guard for the first time in my life. I don't know…and I don't really care too"
"Good grades. No detentions. Some flesh on your bones. That's sound a great improvement so far. Still, did you have encountered some issues from the past few weeks?" Dumbledore asked, making a curious and smiling face.
"I had a few confrontation, some unexpected questions too but I think I had dealt with it fine. Hermione had suspected me and took me apart but I somewhat manage to mislead her, not something in really proud of." She answered with a snort.
"Would you care to tell me what happened with Miss Granger?" Dumbledore requested, as politely as possible.
"She confronted me, ordered me to undress so she could check up my right arm, where I have that fucking Basilisk's scar. I used my skills to hide it so she gave up easily." Heather answered with a tone that said how much upset and disappointed she was about the fact Hermione had so easily given up.
"Did you ask her what she would have done if her suspicion had been proven true?" Dumbledore questioned again, with some weird spark in his eyes.
"No, sir. It didn't cross my mind. Would you liked me to find the answer?" she asked in return.
"No. That's fine. Just keep thing about it if she confronts you again someday" Dumbledore replied.
Then, they spoke about everything and nothing before Dumbledore decided for the very first time to gave to Heather some clues about Voldemort and how they could fight him.
From unexpected ways came unexpected means
It took many times for the Tadwacuc to find a whereabouts. But as many things, the solution came out of unexpected ways. It had been a heartbroken Dobby that gave to Hermione the solution to their little problem because Winky get drunk and the elf needed a safe place to cure his friend.
It happened that the come and go room or room of requirement was a non-permanent room that always fit the need of the seeker. So that was the perfect room to practice magic and train without Umbridge knowing about it.
That's how Hermione wishing "I need a room that nobody but those who belongs to us could find where we could practice defense and train to fight against the Deatheater" finally created the secret training room. Even if it took her a few try during three days long to find the very room that really fit her need.
It was a huge room with an equal huge library about defense, charm, and transfiguration. There was a fireplace, with inviting chairs and pillows. In addition, there also was a lot of space for fighting and training. So that make that room almost the perfect place for training as Holly could think of. They could even sleep here once in a while if they couldn't leave the room for any possible reasons. That how the training sessions of the Tadawuc, the secret society of defense, came to a start.
Fill the gaps and overcome the lack
"Your attention everyone!" Hermione exclaimed, "In this pointed hat, there is a paper for each of you. You are going to pick one of them."
Every one did as she had just said and then, she explained:
"If Harry were still alive, it would be him that teach you how to fight and everything. But as a friend I failed to watch his back when he needed me the most. So even if I have the best grade and abilities to teach you, I feel that I lack something.
Accordingly, I decided to make a one-day duel tournament in which I'm going to participate just as you. So everyone that could outwit me at any point in this tournament is going to sometime assist me to teach you what we all need to know, whatever one's know that I don't.
That's okay to all of you? Okay, so let's start with this tournament and give your best!"
Obviously, what Hermione was lacking the most was confidence but no one argue against her. Because that's a fact that any help Hermione could get to teach them all would be an improvement for them all.
With her own paper, Holly ended up at first against an older redhead Ravenclaw. Not really in the mood for fighting someone older fairly, she just decided to get rid of her with a silencing charm. Then, she fought against Dean Thomas and just used a disarming spell.
After that, Alicia Spinnet almost won against her but she transfigured her into a squirrel, an idea she had picked from Barty Crouch Junior. A transfigured wizard or witch couldn't fight or even barely thinking as a human so Alicia was over. For her next fight, she used a stunning spell, as a non-conscious opponent could not fight too.
In fact, it happened that Holly was pretty good in avoiding the fight and relied on luck the rest of the time. But avoiding the fight was a pretty good strategy, explaining why the disarming spell was her favorite one.
So she was the only one left, as Hermione was too. Holly couldn't help but smile. How could that have been otherwise? Hermione wanted help but was so much more clever, stubborn and proud to let anyone win against her. Not if she had a slight possibility to win.
So that's how the tournament was going to an end: Holly against Hermione until one of them couldn't fight. But Holly was definitely not going to play fair against Hermione. She was going to do everything and nothing so she avoids fighting against her friend, knowing that she would be out wit rather sooner than latter. But Hermione was not going to play fair and was going to do exactly the same.
At the only difference that Hermione favorite spell were shields so she relied pretty much on them to return her opponent offenses against them. That's how Hermione worked. So, Holly needs to use a first one or several spells that Hermione could not use against her.
In doing so, Holly made a strategy that was pretty much the same of one that she would have used against a fantastic beast that was immunized against the spell. But she was fighting against Hermione so a too basic spell would not make the trick. She needed something like…the repulsive spell.
That's how the fight against them started. Holly keeps moving while shielding herself and spelled a few attractive spell with the thing that happened to be on Hermione's back. So Hermione couldn't fight her directly as she needed to watch her own back too.
Then, after a moment Holly started using attractive then repulsive spell so Hermione needed to deal with a mess of thing and forgot one time to shield herself at the wrong moment. Holly used this to hit with a stunning spell, plain and simple. She didn't want to try her luck with a silencing or disarming spell so she went for the technical knockout.
The first try, she poorly missed. The second try, Hermione wasn't any more off-guard so Holly just managed to not be hit by her own spell. The third time, she used a blasting spell one book she previously attracted then a stunning spell directly after. Hermione managed to avoid the exploding book but was caught off-guard by the 'stupefy' and then, collapsed.
That's how she won against Hermione Granger, her best friend. Hermione was clever and the best witch she knows. But Hermione didn't know anything about Holly or thought she didn't know, in fact. Choosing to play the defense against her, Hermione had let her leads the fight so she could overwhelm Hermione with multidirectional attack and then, finish her with a stunning. That was the plan.
Okay, she had just poorly missed at her first attempt so she lost the surprise effect but she had finally done it because Hermione was not prepared for everything like that. So she was too. She had just happened to take the leads and didn't give Hermione a second to rest and change that situation. Holly had not played fair only a second in order to win but those they are going to fight in real life were not going to play fair too.
After that Holly revived her friend and gave her a smile before stepping back with the other, still deeply looking at her. That when Hermione after collecting herself just a few second, decided to talk again:
"That was exactly what I was speaking about!" Hermione exclaimed. "I still don't know what to think about but she goes easy on me. She is not a Deatheater and just one fifth-year amongst all of us.
But she put me down just as she put her other opponent down. She is lucky but that's not all. She has a strategy. She avoids the fight each time she could. If she had been a Deatheater with this personality, she would have go-for-the-kill and I would have been dead by now.
She has something that doesn't belong with just practicing spells and training that could save our life if she can teach us that. So cheer for my new found assistant!"
So everyone applauded for a very embarrassed Holly. But Hermione hadn't finished her speech yet:
"I also had noticed a few of you that needed to teach us something about:
-Ginny, Fred and George Weasley, for special surprised effect! I supposed that pranks could do the trick once in a while. That bat thing Ginny just did really took me off-guard.
-Angelina Johnson: that shaky ground thing was priceless. It's a must-have and I want you to teach us that spell or any other you could thing of.
-Loony Lo…errrm… Luna Lovegood: whatever you had done with me, it was effective so teach us that thing.
-And finally… you, there, what's your name? – The boy replied quietly then she repeated – So, Dennis Crivey. He just tried to blind me with the best lightning spell he could perform. That didn't work so fine but the idea was good because I saw him used it just a moment before.
All of us are going to deal with opponents much older than us. Dennis Crivey came with nothing because I was the younger amongst us but he won against two opponents before I got him down. So I think he could teach us about being clever enough to survive when we are clearly outwit with the simpler spell we have."
As Hermione clearly not had a word, every one applauded again and then Hermione concluded:
"Thank you, everyone, for today. It was amazing and very much highlighting too. I don't know for you about I desperately need a shower so I propose to take a break for today and go on another day"
That was a habit Hermione had taken to never say 'tomorrow' or anything like that. Whenever the club meets, she decided it this very day so to not be predictable for Umbridge. Hermione was pretty much paranoid about that very woman.
So, Holly went out of their secret training room, just to get caught by Hermione, again.
"I know only one people of our age that would have been able of what you had just done," she said, suspicious.
"Let me guess?" Holly replied sarcastically "Your precious potter friend?"
Hermione was astonished, by Holly bad mouthing. Not that It was the first time she witnessed it. Just that she never thought that Holly would have replied to her like that.
"Yeah," Hermione responded in return, even if Holly obviously didn't wait for a reply. "That was him," she admitted "But I'm not completely done with the idea that you are the same person. I don't know why. But I can't help it"
"So what if that's true?" Holly asked rhetorically "You may give me a crushing hug or slap me or something? Because news flash:
I'm not him. Even if you think we are the same person because with may have some much thing in common, you had befriended a boy, you had to get along with a boy, you happened to know a boy and I'm anything but a boy. You get it?"
Then, Hermione just started crying and ran away.
Chapter End
Yeah, I made Hermione cry. Shame on me. But I thought this chapter needed something bad to ended with. Because I filled it with all my love for Harry Potter 5 (not my favourite book but the second best) and I made Heather/Holly so fantastic, even for a femHarry that I needed to made her not so cool in the end.
But remember that lesson, if you didn't know it already: the best fight is always the one you had to avoid by every possible means. That not always means run away and duck out with an issue. It also means "Won the fight before it even starts.", "Avoid having issues in the very first place." and finally "If you really have to fight, make it quick. More time mean more injuries for everyone involve".
So, how the 'Training Against Dark Wizard And Creature Underground Club' sound to you? Yeah, I know, a stupid name by a stupid french girl. (maybe I have some Granger blood too ^^ ). But I mean: do you like this version of Dumbledore Army?
I wanted something like a common room with some things from each House. I added nothing from Slytherin but obviously, there was no Slytherin in the D.A. and even if I thought that there could be some 'good' Slytherin in my story, I thought it was to soon to change a thing like that. I also wanted it to be a defense secret club, with nothing about Dumbledore or any military concept. I wanted it too not to be only femHarry and/or Hermione teaching to anyone else. Even if Angelina Johnson (seventh-year girl) and Dennis Crivey (second-year boy) as teachers are nothing but a partial choice of mine.
Finally, thank you for reading ! Have a good day and see you soon for the fourth chapter...
